[frazzledinva]

I'm a resident of Virginia. I'm also being sued by Teri for two loans. One was taken in 1991 and the other in 1992. There was a third I paid off with a tax refund in 1995. I became ill and was not able to work. My financial life went down the tubes. I filed for Chap. 7 bankruptcy and included the loans. The discharge was in May 1996. I recovered sufficiently enough to return to work p/t in 2004. I wanted to work for the federal govt and needed a security clearance so, I set to work cleaning up my credit report. I wrote to the credit bureaus in Oct. 2005 and asked that Teri's reference to the bankruptcy be removed. It had been more than 7 years. The reference was removed but, an attorney for Teri sent me a letter requesting payment of more than $50K for these loans. I called and spoke to a paralegal and explained about the bankruptcy. Didn't hear anything until March 2006 when I found a summons taped to my door. The amount claimed was down to $30K (woo-hoo). I filed a motion to dismiss based on the bankruptcy (judge agreed) and nothing was said about the statute of limitations. The judge set a date for the motion (next week). Last Friday, I received a response to my motion and it appears it is argued based on current bankruptcy law and the new law about the statute of limitations (never more). My question is whether current law applies, the law at the time the promissory notes were filed or the law at the time of the discharge in bankruptcy. I'm a mess! I don't know what to do! I never practiced law, don't have a license and no attorney. This will ruin my life all over again!

[aaron]

If the loans were in fact discharged in bankruptcy, they should remain discharged.

Statutes of limitation are ordinarily regarded as procedural, and thus the statute in effect at the time of litigation normally governs. (As you have noted, that would mean that no statute of limitations applies.)

Given the amounts involved, consider enlisting the help of a lawyer who is versed in credit, collection and bankruptcy issues.

[Candymaker]

There must be something going on with TERI where they are hiring lawyers all over the country to try to collect loans from decades ago. See my post earlier this mo. Mine too, although I did not file for BK at the time (I should have).
Fight them every way you can. This is not only unfair, its unethical. And when you speak to a lawyer about this, have him/her go for sanctions against the attorney who is trying to collect a debt discharged in BK.
Good luck with it.

[sherifftutu]

I am trying to negotiate with TERI collection agency for loan repaymeny. They will not give me anything in writing and insist I should just pay the collection agency. The collector also says MA law allows interest on a debt even though it is in collection but I don't live in MA. I have refused to make any payment unless I get anything in writing and suprised that interest can be charged on a loan in collections. Any advises or tips on dealing with Collection Agency.